Kitty from God

[Keith]

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was
afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty
would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided
that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. That's what he did, all the
while checking his progress in the car.
He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a
little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went "boing!" and the kitten instantly sailed through the air-out of sight.
The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray
kitten. So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and went on about his business. A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church
members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to
see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked
her, "Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?" She
replied, "You won't believe this," and then told him how her little girl had
been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before,
the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, "Well, if
God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it." She told the pastor, "I watched
my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And
really,
Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten
suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and
landed right in front of her."

[Midtowner]

Cute story, but untrue:


http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors...rom-heaven.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=Dwigh...en-US:official

ETA:

love the "boing!" part. I certainly don't want to underestimate the Power of God but I am not going to believe this one until I find out who this pastor is, where it happened, and when. Can Dwight come forward on this? Right now I have this classified as a probable Christian Urban Legend. [ Update - Dwight turns out to be a well-known Seventh Day Adventist preacher in Michigan. His associate wrote me and says he often uses "internet stories" tongue-in-cheek to make a point. Apparently the "tongue-in-cheek" aspect dropped out and it is circulating as "true." Other preachers have sent comments that this kind of illustration can be effective as long as you hint it could be a tall tale.]

A postscript - on May 18 I touched base with a "super pastor" friend in California. By "super pastor" I mean he had 7,000 out to his Easter service. I asked him if he had come across any great illustrations. He said there was one he had been sitting on for a year. When he finally used it, he got the biggest reaction of anything he has preached in two years. It was about a preacher and this kitten.... I give up. I can't win.

http://www.holwick.com/questionable_illustrations.html